UBC Carpentry Program offers Job Corps students a path to a union job
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, December 2009) The United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ (UBC) Carpentry Program at the Cleveland Job Corps, 13421 Coit Road, offers young people ages 16 through 24 an opportunity to prepare for a trade through a pre-apprenticeship program. David Lummas, Lead Instructor at the Cleveland Job Corps Center of the UBC National Job Corps Training Fund, says youths can spend anywhere from 6 months to a year and a half or longer preparing to enter an apprenticeship with a union or a job where they can begin to earn while they continue to learn carpentry skills.

Lummas says generally those students who have a high school diploma or a G.E.D. are ready after about six months to begin an apprenticeship with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Those, who do not yet have a high school diploma, work with Job Corps staff to obtain their GED. He says this can take up to a year and a half. The program is individually designed so each youth can work at his or her, own pace. Lummas says those entering the program range from youths who have never handled tools to those who have participated in a high school shop program such as the Construction Program at Max Hayes High School.

Job Corps participants can choose from four trades that can lead to high paying union jobs: carpentry, sign and design, bricklaying, and facility maintenance. Youths are interviewed and screened for interest and aptitude for these trades and can enter one of the training programs.

Lummas says his goal in the pre-apprenticeship CBC Carpentry Program is to provide training so youths will come to “appreciate what it means to be prepared for the workforce.” His goal is to have graduates of the program ready to go into a union apprenticeship or another job of their choosing. He says students learn soft skills such as showing up on time and how not to be the last one back to work after lunch. Skills he says that will help them to get and keep a job anywhere.

In addition to learning life skills students in the program learn basic carpentry and gain experience working on a job sites. The program has offered its assistance to a number of community projects where the students have been able to use their carpentry skills. This past summer youths in the program built cabinets to house artifacts in a Trucking Exhibit hosted by the Richfield Historical Society as part of the 200th Anniversary of Richfield. The cabinets were designed to fit in a tractor-trailer where the exhibit was held. Students in the program have used their carpentry skills to assist with rehabbing a two-story house in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. They also participate jointly on projects with youths pursuing careers in the bricklaying or sign and display trades. In this way Lummas says the youths can learn to work together with other trades in a fashion similar to what they may experience on a job site.

In placing graduates in jobs, Lummas works closely with the Northeast Ohio Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center in Richfield, Ohio from which he himself graduated. Lummas says the CBC Carpentry Program at Cleveland Job Corps is now in its second year. He says thus far he has helped placed 14 graduates in apprenticeships on union construction jobs. Six of those individuals are in their second year as union apprentices. He says it takes at least four years for an apprentice to reach journeyman status. He says once they achieve journeyman status, their union card will allow them to travel all over the United States in pursuit of union carpentry jobs.

Lummas hopes to monitor graduates of his program and help them to reach this goal as full-fledged union members. He says he helps graduates of the program to get their first job and during the first 12 months of their apprenticeship he tells his graduates that if they lose their job and have exhausted all leads for a new job, they can come to him to seek help in finding another position.

Lummas says about 100 students have participated in the UBC Carpentry Program over the past two years. Of that number, about twenty have been placed in jobs involving carpentry – fourteen in union jobs and six in non union jobs. The remainder of the youths have used the job preparation skills they learned in the program to enter the regular workforce in other jobs or have gone on to pursue additional education. He said some youths decide not to pursue a career as a carpenter, but the basic skills they have learned will benefit them throughout their lifetime as they can do carpentry jobs for themselves and do basic home repairs.

The Cleveland Job Corps Center is actively recruiting new students. Young adults, ages 16 through 24 that meet the income requirements of the program can enroll at no cost. A statement released by the Cleveland Job Corps says the program “provides students with academic and career technical training, room, board, and basic medical and dental services.”

“Job Corps provides students with a chance to receive career training in a field of their choosing while studying to earn a High School Diploma or GED,” Job Corps Regional Director Donna Kay said. “Students can take advantage of academic and career training as well as a variety of leadership opportunities through Job Corps.”

The Job Corps is a national program, administered by the United States Department of Labor. The program is designed to help students achieve their personal career goals. The program offers classroom guidance, career counseling as well as assistance in securing and maintaining employment after graduation.

“We have extremely well-qualified instructors and center staff who are dedicated to helping our students acquire the skills they need to be successful after they leave Job Corps,” Kay said.

Job Corps says it “offers students Advanced Career Training options as well, making it possible for them to receive further training by enrolling in a vocational, technical or community college for no additional cost.” Graduates of the CBC Carpentry Program in addition to the option of receiving training form The Northeast Ohio Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program also receive information about a Degreed Construction Apprenticeship Program at Cuyahoga Community College.

Students at the Cleveland Job Corps Center have the option of living in one of three residence halls built for up to 440 students. Career Training options offered by the Cleveland Job Corps for students are varied. Some examples are careers as a computer technician, pharmacy technician or bricklayer. Cleveland Job Corps also provides opportunities for students to participate in athletics, community service projects and the Student Government Association. To learn more about Job Corps, call (800) 733-JOBS or visit Job Corps online at www.jobcorps.gov.

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